Aug 13 2010
Grandma’s family had to cross this creek (called a “branch” in the local venacular) in order to reach their home. Mom and I were warned not to try to see the site (home was burned by vandals quite awhile ago) because of snakes. Creepy, hunh? Instead of contending with snakes, we trespassed ever so slightly [...]
Aug 12 2010
I am going back to the mural on August 16, I promise! Meanwhile, I am still smitten with North Carolina and just have to share some of it with you. This is the lovely Moses Cone house, also known as “Flat Top Manor”.
Aug 11 2010
Rather than invade the privacy of my newly met distant relatives, I will show you some of my photos from the other parts of my trip. I love stone structures! I This was my only view of the blue ridges of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This is the church where the family reunions used to [...]
Aug 10 2010
While in NC, Mom and I took the back road to the family reunion. I wanted to see the family cemetery, the site where Grandma grew up, the church where the reunions used to happen and any other sight that seemed connected to Mom’s family. We were tootling along a country road, and suddenly I [...]
Aug 09 2010
While at the family reunion in North Carolina, I had a most interesting conversation with Cousin Don. He said his dad, Uncle Lank (derived from Langston), managed apple orchards at the Moses Cone estate. It is now a part of the Blue Ridge Parkway National Park (or is it a monument?). There are miles of trails [...]
Aug 08 2010
Mom and I were creeping down a steep gravel road in a rented car in the fog. I love to explore and see new things, but seeing wasn’t easy in that fog. As we worked our way down off the “mountain” (I am sorry for being such a California mountain snob), I said “grassy clearing [...]
Aug 07 2010
Isn’t that a nice feeling? You go along in life, wondering why you are the way you are, wondering if anyone else has ever done the same things, wondering if you will ever meet anyone else who gets you. . . not that I care about other people’s opinions, but sometimes it does get lonely [...]
Aug 06 2010
My maternal grandmother, AKA Grandma, was one of 12 children born to Martha Bob and Edward Elisha in the hills of North Carolina. Of the 7 girls, she was the only one to attend and graduate from high school, leave North Carolina, and eventually get her driver’s license! (Such a maverick, that G’ma of mine!) [...]
Aug 04 2010
Back in the day when I used a real camera, a complicated drawing might take 2 rolls of film. Now that the restraint of “wasting film” has been obliterated, I take as many photos as I want! It is such a nice thing to never stop to change rolls. Despite the abundance of images, there [...]
Aug 03 2010
Have you ever looked for blue flowers at the nursery? They are rare in the domestic world of flowers. Not so in the wild! Here are blue flowers in Mineral King whose names I know: Languid Ladies aka Sierra Bluebells Forget-me-nots aka Sierra Stickseed Blue Lips Five Spot Explorer’s Gentian Wild Blue Flax (with [...]
